The Demon Within ::revised, completed::
by H. Gibson
Summary: Two of Lucas isn't always a good thing. (Please read BEFORE "Sword Play" and "My Flag is Your Flag.)
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note: I decided to revise this story based on a few reviews that made me realize that Katya had turned into precisely what I hadn't wanted her to become. So, thanks for all of the reviews, both the positive and the quick spate of negative that came later. Although I would like to say that "flawless" is not a word I would use to describe Kat, though the reasons for that will come later. Hope you all enjoy the re-write!

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_DISCLAIMER (don't you just love these?): I don't own SeaQuest or any of its original characters, story lines, or anything else that was originally there before I decided to mess with it. I also don't own the character of Sam/Samantha. I do, however, own the following original characters: Jason, and Katya. Can I say that I wish I owned Lucas? I'm not making any money off of any of this writing, if I were I'd quit my job and write full time!_

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Lucas stood at the top of launch bay, waiting for Jason to arrive. This was a short stop, so only those with family in the area were allowed ashore. Sam, unfortunately, was leaving just as Jason got here. Her father had asked her to come and work on a dig with him in Egypt again, this time for about 6 months. She had agreed to go, she missed her family. Lucas would miss her; she was a special and irreplaceable friend. Though he would have Jason now, he knew that it wouldn't be the same without Sam. 

Sam had left last night, before they had even docked. She had a flight to catch. They'd been able to say their goodbyes privately, and Lucas was happy for that. He'd sent an email to Jason when he'd found out about Sam's leaving. He knew Jason had been looking forward to seeing her again; and Jason's response proved him right, even though Jason admitted that he would still be aboard and would see Sam when she returned. He tapped his foot and waited as the launch docked. The Captain and Dr. Westphalen, as well as Ford and Crocker were here also waiting. He wondered about the new girl coming aboard, though she wouldn't be getting here until tomorrow.

The launch finally docked and Lucas peered down the ladder. Jason was the only person on this launch run, and he was out quickly, carrying a bulky bag. Lucas knew there had to be more than that, but that those things would be sent up later when the launch was unloaded. Jason climbed the ladder and turned to grab his bag as it was handed up to him. Setting it down, he turned and saluted the Captain, Commander Ford and Chief Crocker. Lucas was aware, through the Captain, that Jason had earned the rank of Ensign in his short time at the academy, so good was his performance there.

"Ensign Barnham, reporting for duty Captain," Jason said, all seriousness.

"At ease Ensign," the Captain replied with a smile, then reached out and shook Jason's hand. "Welcome back Jason, it's nice to see you again. You, of course, know Dr. Westphalen, Commander Ford, and Chief Crocker."

Jason's smile surfaced. "It's nice to see you again too Captain. I can't thank you enough for everything you've done," he said, turning in the direction of the other three. "Doctor, Commander, Chief, a pleasure to see you again."

"All the thanks I need Jason came in the form of those reports sent to me by the academy. Very well done, son. You can give me extra thanks in the form of performing to expectation."

"I won't let you down sir," Jason replied.

"I have a feeling you won't. And," he said gesturing behind Jason to a waiting Lucas, "of course you know your friend, Lucas."

Jason's smile widened as he turned around to see Lucas. "Lucas! Man are you a sight for sore eyes!"

"Same here buddy," Lucas said as they hugged quickly. "It's nice to see you back."

"Glad to be back. Too bad Sam is gone."

Lucas chuckled. "She'll be back before you know it."

"Jason, I'm going to have Commander Ford show you to your quarters now so you can unpack. You won't be on duty your first week here, you need to have some time to settle in and learn your way around."

"Thank you, Captain. I'll find you later Lucas," Jason said before following after Commander Ford.

Lucas nodded and headed back to his quarters. His relief at seeing Jason here was undeniable. He remembered very well the warnings that Ellie had given him, and his secret fear was to see them come true. He decided to go check the systems while he waited for Jason.

* * *

"You get 'em D.A." Jason said. 

Lucas and Jason were comfortably established in the ship's rec room, watching an episode of Law Order: SVU, one Lucas' new favorite shows. He'd managed to pull every episode down and burn them onto mini-disks. His hope was to watch one a night. Lucas had scored some popcorn from the mess, which they ate while they watched with glee.

"I love D.A. Cabot," Lucas said. "She's a good character, not to mention that she's pretty."

"Eh…I'd go for Detective Benson," Jason replied. "She's tough, and there's definitely a past there. And she's hot on top of all of it."

Lucas smirked. "Always the dark-haired ones for you."

"Hey, I can't help it. I like what I like," he said, throwing a piece of popcorn at Lucas. "You on the other hand, aren't picky."

"No, you're right about that. I don't have room to be picky though, it's not like girls are mobbing the launches trying to get at me like they would you."

Jason laughed. "Right. Have you looked in a mirror Wolenczak?"

"Yeah, why?"

"And you still think you don't have room to be picky?"

"I don't!"

"Oh yes you do. I promise, if you stayed on shore long enough in L.A. there would be plenty of girls coming your way."

"Yeah, whatever," Lucas replied. "Besides, it isn't really the hair or eye color I look at, it's more their personality, what they're all about, their intelligence, their likes and dislikes. She doesn't have to be a quantum physicist, but she should at least be able to discuss world events. Plus, I have a girlfriend."

Jason just looked at him. "You can't see all of that just by first glance, and I forgot about her. What was her name?"

"Juliana and I know, but some girls just catch my attention, regardless of their coloring."

Jason nodded. "I know what you mean."

"But you like Sam."

Jason was quiet for a moment. "Yeah, I do like Sam. When I was here the first time, she really caught my attention. I don't know what it was about her, but…yeah…"

Lucas smiled. "Well, you had her attention alright."

Jason quickly changed the subject. "Is there a way to heat things up?"

"Yeah, in the mess. Why?"

"Sweet. Meet me in the mess in 10. Get Tim, Ben and Miguel too."

Lucas looked at him, puzzled. "Why?"

"Just do it!"

"Okay, okay," he said getting up. Lucas headed off to round up the other three; he knew they would be getting off duty just about now. They were as confused as he was, but they went anyway for lack of anything better to do.

As they got closer to the mess, a familiar scent came to Lucas' nose. The other three sniffed around as they smelled it.

"Oh…" Lucas said. "Oh please God, let that be what I think it is."

"I don't know what it is," Ben said, "but I want to."

They entered the mess, and there, on 5 small plates was a steaming Cinnabon each. Lucas instantly had to fight back the urge to drool, as did the other three men behind him. Jason stood there grinning like the Cheshire cat.

"Thought I'd bring some with me as a token of friendship," Jason said with a laugh.

"You are the best friend in the world," Lucas breathed.

"Cinnabon…" Ben said reverently. "I haven't had one of these in forever."

"Dig in guys," Jason offered. He didn't have to offer twice as the other 4 nearly fell over themselves in their attempt to get at the desserts.

For a while there was only silence in the mess as the 5 men reveled in the treat. There was no way to get these here, save for someone bringing them back from shore leave. Lucas had a feeling it would now become a tradition. He looked at the box and noticed that there were three still left.

"Who are those for," Lucas asked, pointing with his fork.

"Oh, those are for the Captain, Commander Ford and Dr. Westphalen," Jason replied. "Just a thanks for all of their help."

"Help?" Ben asked.

Jason laughed. "Yeah, the Captain helped me with the letter of recommendation. As for CommanderFord,I contacted him with some questions while at the academy and he helped me out." The other 3 nodded and continued eating

"Wow," Lucas said. "I forgot how good these tasted."

"I've never had one of these," Miguel replied after swallowing. "But I'm sorry it took this long!"

Jason grinned and finished up. "I'm going to heat these up and run them to their rightful owners."

"Okay," came the collective reply, mumbled through mouths full of cinnamon roll.


	2. Chapter 2

Lucas sat on the Bridge, working on configuring a new system upgrade on the Captain's computer. The new girl was coming today. He couldn't explain why he was so interested in this. Perhaps it was because she was civilian crew, like he and Sam were. The fact that she was coming to assist Dr. Levin, their resident parapsychology and psychic phenomenon researcher, made him wonder. What was so special about her that she would be assisting in something so strange? He knew nothing about her, not even her name, though he could have hacked into the records to see what he could find out, something he had decided not to do.

A commotion broke his train of thought and he looked up to see Chief Crocker and Commander Ford dragging a scruffy man through the doors to the Bridge. It was the pirate they had picked up a few days prior. He'd been caught poaching, and they were sending him ashore on the launch that would be bringing the new girl back. Lucas watched with interest as the man argued with the Captain.

"You're not going to win," Lucas thought.

Suddenly, the man turned his attention to Lucas and narrowed his eyes. "Mosha danna luktor winepp pala," he hissed.

"What the hell?" Lucas said. The man started laughing like he was possessed and they carted him off to launch bay. "Okay, that was seriously weird."

"I don't know what that was all about," the Captain said. "How's the work coming Lucas?"

"Oh it's…it's…." he started, before a blinding pain seized his head. He screamed and put his hands to his head, falling over and writhing in his pain.

"Lucas!" The Captain pressed the com button. "Westphalen to Bridge, stat!" He moved over to where Lucas lay, still writhing in pain and crying out. "You're going to be alright Lucas, just hang on."

It was a pain like nothing he'd ever felt and it didn't show any sign of letting up. He couldn't even form intelligible words; the pain was so great that all he could do was scream. Then, as quickly as it had come, it was gone; leaving Lucas a crying mess on the floor, feeling sick to his stomach.

Dr. Westphalen arrived and Lucas was able to explain to her what he'd felt. "Sounds like an acute migraine attack. You've never had migraines before Lucas; it isn't in your records. Perhaps you should go lay down."

The Captain helped Lucas to his feet and personally walked him to his quarters. Lucas shut the door quietly, glad for the darkness of the room. He lay down on the bed, pulling his pillow over his eyes and fighting the queasiness that still lingered. He was soon asleep.

What seemed like moments later, he heard a knock on his door. "Lucas? It's Jason, you alright man?"

"Yeah, come on in."

Jason entered, looking concerned. "I heard something went down on the Bridge. Everything okay?"

He blinked and sat up. The queasiness was gone, he felt fine again. "Yeah, I'm good. Dr. Westphalen said I had a migraine attack."

"You ever have one of those before?"

"Nope."

"Weird."

"Tell me about it."

"Hey, come with me. We'll go watch a movie or something in the rec room."

"Alright," Lucas replied, standing up.

The two headed for the rec room, their route taking them right past launch bay. As they came down the corridor that basically dead-ended into the launch bay area, and you could either go left or right, they were laughing and joking.

"Hello Ms. Derevenko, it's very nice to have you aboard," they heard the Captain say. Both looked up to see a young woman standing there and they stopped cold.

"Whoa," Jason said. In front of them stood the new girl. She appeared to be 19 or 20, and was dressed professionally in a skirt and button up shirt.

She noticed them too, and looked their direction, giving a smile before turning back to the Captain. "It's nice to meet you as well Captain. I'm grateful for the opportunity to work here with Dr. Levin."

The Captain noticed Jason and Lucas standing in the hallway and motioned them over. The two complied, never taking their eyes off of her.

"I'd like you to meet Lucas Wolenczak, our Chief Computer Analyst, and Ensign Jason Barnham. Lucas, Jason, this is Katya Derevenko."

"Pleased to meet you both," she said sweetly, shaking Jason's hand. As she took Lucas' hand, she frowned. "Are you alright?"

"What?"

"Are you alright? You weren't well earlier, were you?"

Lucas blinked. "How did you know that?"

She quickly let go of his hand. "Oh, I'm sorry…"

"Katya is here to assist Dr. Levin due to her various abilities Lucas," the Captain explained.

"Abilities? What abilities?" He didn't like the sound of that.

"I guess some would call me psychic, among other things," she replied quietly.

Lucas looked at her, alarmed. "A spyer…" he whispered.

"A what?" she asked, looking confused.

"It was very nice to meet you Ms. Derevenko. I hope you enjoy your time here," Lucas said, walking quickly away.

The Captain looked after him, shocked. Jason looked confused. "I don't know what that was about. Excuse me," Jason said, hustling after him

"I didn't offend him did I? I sometimes do that without meaning to."

"I'm very sorry for his response. I forgot that Lucas has an innate distrust of anyone with psychic abilities."

"Oh…why?"

"I'm not sure, I don't think I've ever gotten his reason for it."

"I see," she said.

"Let me show you to your quarters," the Captain said, leading her away.

Jason caught up to Lucas a good way down the corridor. "Lucas! What in the hell was that about?"

Without stopping, he replied, "She's a spyer Jason. You'd better watch yourself. I don't trust those people."

"A spyer? What's that?"

"Anyone with psychic abilities. They can read your mind and mess with your head."

Jason rolled his eyes. "That's stupid Lucas. I'm sure that not all of them are bent on wreaking havoc on unsuspecting people by reading their minds. She seemed very nice."

"That's what she wants you to think."

"Ah, come on Lucas, knock it off. All she did was ask if you were feeling well."

"Yeah, but she did it by reading my mind," Lucas huffed.

"Dude, all anyone has to do is look at you. You look like hell."

Lucas didn't reply for a moment. Jason had him there. "Well, regardless, she's a spyer."

"I give up," Jason said, exasperated.

"Good," Lucas said, continuing on to the rec room.


	3. Chapter 3

Katya looked around the room. It was a good size, a much larger space then she'd anticipated having on a submarine. She sat on the bed, unsure of what to do. She was bothered by Lucas' reaction to her. She wished that he would just judge her based on getting to know her rather than what she could do, but she was used to it. A lot of people didn't trust anyone with abilities like she had.

Sighing, she decided to change clothes. It was a little chilly down here, she was glad she'd brought some sweaters. She unbuckled the shoes and set them off to the side, pulling out her trusty Doc Martens. She much preferred these, but she'd wanted to look nice when she first came aboard. She pulled a black sweater and a pair of jeans from her bag and proceeded to change.

That done, she pulled her long black hair into a ponytail and unpacked the few things she had access to at the moment. Pictures of family and a few friends, books, some jewelry she'd brought. She looked around and decided to wait for the rest of her things before tackling this project. Instead, she'd have a look around.

She walked out into the corridor, shutting the door behind her. Various crew were moving up and down the corridor, paying no attention to her. She turned her head to the side as she saw the sea tubes, and her eyes widened as she saw Darwin swim by. She followed the dolphin along the corridor to Mammal Engineering.

Entering the large room, she saw the moon pool and stepped up to it. Darwin popped to the surface at about the same moment. She smiled happily; she hadn't known they had a dolphin here.

She patted the top of the smooth head and looked around her at all of the computer equipment, wondering what it was for, before moving back out into the corridor. She was looking back at Darwin as she left, and ran into Jason. She almost fell backwards but he caught her.

"Wow, careful there. Don't want you in med bay your first day here," he said.

"I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to run into you," she said, before turning to look at him. "Oh, I met you earlier. Jason, right?"

"Yeah, that's me."

"You look familiar."

"Do I?"

"You were on T.V., weren't you?"

Jason blushed slightly. "Yes, I was, but I gave it up to work here."

She smiled at him. "I think it's good to follow where your heart leads you. You weren't happy anyway." She saw his eyes grow wide. "Damn! I'm sorry! I always do that. I forget to turn it off."

He smiled back. "It's okay, it doesn't bother me."

"Like it bothered your friend?"

"Oh…yeah…Lucas…I'm sorry for that."

"No need to apologize, he's entitled to his own views."

"He should apologize. He's just paranoid."

"A lot of people are," she said. Jason picked up on the note of sadness in her response.

"Maybe, but not all," he said, stepping back while taking her with him, and then letting her go.

"Thank you for catching me, I appreciate it."

"No problem. You having a look around?"

"Yeah, just waiting for the rest of my things."

"I know that feeling. I only got here yesterday."

"A fellow newbie huh?" she asked with a grin.

He nodded. "I've been here once before, but only for a visit. Any place in particular you're trying to get to?"

"Actually yes, I was about to go look for Dr. Levin."

"I know where he's at. Come on, I'll show you."

She followed Jason through the myriad corridors, taking mental notes to help her find her way around. The finally came to the science labs.

"Here you are," Jason said.

"Thanks," she replied.

"See ya around!"

She nodded in reply, and then went in search of Dr. Levin, quickly finding him.

"Katy! So good to see you!" he said, enveloping her in a hug. "Must be nice to get away from home eh?"

"Hi Eli! Yes, it's a great feeling. Thank you so much for talking them into it, I can't thank you enough. Being there was stifling, and the lost time thing was a bit strange."

"Did you ever get to the bottom of that?"

"No, unfortunately not."

"Well, maybe in the course of our experiments we'll figure it out hmmm?"

"Maybe!"

"It really is good to see you. I knew it had to be getting rough for you, the older you got, always having all of that security around you, never being able to be a normal kid."

She laughed. "Eli, I have never been a normal kid, security or no. Though I have never figured out why they are so concerned about my safety. I'm nothing special, there are lots of people like me."

Dr. Levin shrugged. "Don't know."

"I've already managed to offend someone I think."

"Oh? I think that's a record for you Katy. Who was it?"

"His name is Lucas."

"Ohhhh yes. Lucas Wolenczak. Lucas is…special…himself. He's highly skeptical though, and distrusts anyone who went to, or in your case, should have gone to, Chatton."

"Why though? Did he have a bad experience?"

"No, not that I know of. Just the innate distrust that many people have."

Katya sighed. "I wish he'd be more open. He and Jason seem to be the only people here close to my age."

"Well, there is Samantha too, but she's away for the next 6 months. She's a friend of Lucas'. Other than that, Miguel Ortiz, Ben Krieg, and Tim O'Neill are all close as well, though they are a bit older."

She took note of the names. "Eli, is there a cafeteria or something? I'm really hungry."

"Sure, let me show you the way. Those three I mentioned before should be there now. I'll introduce you to them."


	4. Chapter 4

"I say that Hitchcock would win," Ben said evenly.

"No way," Miguel replied. "Hitchcock would not beat Xena in a mud wrestling match."

"Yes she would!"

"No chance man! Xena is like, an amazon woman. She'd wipe the floor with Katie," Miguel reasoned.

"What do you think Tim?" Ben asked.

"I'm staying out of this one," he replied.

"Eh...you're no fun Tim."

"Hey, fun for me does not consist of getting punched in the eye by Katie Hitchcock when she walks in and hears me talking about…what you're talking about." Miguel and Ben both laughed.

"It's true, she'd kick your ass," Ben said.

"Exactly," Tim replied.

"Helllooo," Ben said, looking over Tim's shoulder. Miguel and Tim turned around to see Dr. Levin and Katya walking toward them.

"Who's that?" Miguel asked.

"Don't know," Tim replied.

"We're about to find out," Ben quipped as the two reached their table.

"Ben, Tim, Miguel, this is Katya Derevenko. She's my new research assistant."

"Nice to meet you, very nice indeed," Ben said, shaking her hand, then wincing as Tim kicked him under the table. "What the hell Tim?"

"Never mind him, he's a cretin," Tim said to Katya. "Tim O'Neill."

Katya chuckled. "Nice to meet you. You must be Ben," she said, turning back to look at him.

"Yep, that's me."

"I'm Miguel," she heard a voice say. She turned and saw Miguel sitting next to Tim.

"Nice to meet you as well," she said.

"Do you mind if Katya has lunch with you three? She's a bit lost here and I need to get back to work."

"Don't mind at all Doctor," Ben replied. "Have a seat." Katya sat down quietly as Dr. Levin walked away.

"Are you hungry? Would you like me to get you something?" Tim asked.

"Actually, I'm starving. What's on the menu?"

"Cardboard," Ben said with a smirk.

"Sounds tasty," Katya replied.

"There is pretty much the basics; sandwiches, soup, and then whatever mystery dish they're serving up as lunch."

"I'll take some soup, thanks." Katya said, giving Tim a grateful smile.

"Soup it is then. Coming right up," Tim said, walking away from the table.

"So, Katya, what's a pretty girl like you doing here? Seems to me you could find something more worthwhile." Ben said.

"I'm assisting Dr. Levin with some of his experiments. I didn't know that looks played a part in what one would consider a worthwhile investment. It certainly didn't help in your case anyway," Katya fired back.

Miguel burst out laughing. "Ouch, and Ben goes down!"

Ben raised an eyebrow. "Oooo…aren't we a feisty one. Touché Katya. I think you and I will get along well."

Katya smirked. "You can call me Kat."

"Kat. Easy to remember."

Tim returned with her soup and some crackers, along with a glass of water. "Thanks Tim, I really appreciate it."

"No problem. Being the new person can be a bit scary."

Katya nodded, but froze as she felt someone else's eyes on her. Looking to her left, she saw that Lucas had entered the mess hall and was staring at her. He wasn't happy. Were these his friends?

"What's up with Wolenczak?" Miguel asked.

"Don't know. Hey Luke! C'mere!" Ben shouted. Lucas just shook his head and moved off to get his food. "Whoa, he didn't even correct me on the Luke thing. Something is definitely up."

"He doesn't like me," Katya said simply. They all turned to look at her.

"Why not?" Miguel asked.

"Because he doesn't trust 'spyers' as he calls me."

None of the men spoke for a moment. Ben broke the silence. "You're a psychic?"

"Among other things, yes."

"Wow, that's awesome. But yeah, Lucas isn't down with psychics."

Katya shrugged. "There's nothing I can do about that. I am what I am, and I can't avoid everyone on the ship because he doesn't like me."

All three of them nodded and then watched Lucas walk by and plant himself at the table next to theirs. He was close enough to talk to Miguel and Tim, but far enough away that he could avoid any conversation with Katya. Ben shook his head.

"So, tell us about yourself Kat." Miguel said.

"Well, if you can't tell by my name, I come from a Russian family in San Francisco. They left Russia to get away from the revolution, and took their money with them. As you probably know, any wealthy family was a target for the Bolsheviks. We've been in San Francisco ever since."

"Wow, that's quite a history," Tim said. "Do you speak Russian?"

"Yes, but only when I have to. I speak French, German, Spanish and Italian too."

Ben whistled. "Another genius."

"Not quite," Katya replied. "I'm kind of glad not to fall into that category. My life has been hard enough as it is."

"Lucas over there and Sam are both geniuses. Lucas graduated from Stanford last year."

"Really? Very impressive, it's a tough school," she said, loud enough for Lucas to hear her. "I did all of my college course work through home study."

"Why?" Ben asked.

"I'm not sure. I've never gone to an actual school; my parents were worried about security, even at home. I've always had security guards watching me; and for school I always had tutors."

"There had to be a reason for that," Miguel said.

"If there was I have no idea what it was. I feel a bit ripped off to tell the truth. I missed out on a lot of things."

"What is your degree in?"

"I have a Master's Degree in Parapsychology and a Bachelor's in Literature."

"A Master's?" Ben asked, incredulous.

"Ben, I had no life to speak of. When that's the case, doing the course work isn't a biggie," she replied with a smile.

"What do you like to do?" Tim asked.

"I love music, all kinds, except country," she said, wrinkling her nose in distaste. "I've never gotten into that sound. My favorite is alternative rock; I like a lot of the stuff from the 90's and later on. I love to read and write, though I do mostly short stories."

"Very cool," Miguel said.

Lucas couldn't help but overhear the conversation. They had some things in common. Were she not a spyer, he'd love to talk to her. She sounded interesting.

"Hey Lucas, who do you think would win in a mud wrestling match between Hitchcock and Xena?" Ben called out.

"My money's on Hitchcock," Lucas answered absently.

"How about you Kat? Who do you think would win?"

"I don't know. Who's Hitchcock?"

"I am," said a voice from behind them. They all turned. "Lieutenant Commander Katie Hitchcock," she said, shaking Katya's hand.

"Nice to meet you," Katya said. "You have beautiful eyes."

Hitchcock smiled. "Thanks! Oh, and Ben? I'd kick her ass," she replied before walking away.

Katya started to laugh as the men sat; dumbfounded by the answer they'd just received. Lucas, in spite of himself, started laughing too.

"God I love that woman," Ben said.


	5. Chapter 5

Lucas groaned in frustration as he sat on the Bridge again. It was fairly empty now, save for a skeleton crew. Most people were off eating dinner. "Ahhh…you stupid machine! Why can't you just do what I want you to do?"

"What do you want it to do?" came a voice from behind him. It sounded almost like Ellie, so he turned around, expecting to see her, but saw Katya instead.

"Oh. It's you."

"Don't get excited," she said, walking up and sitting near him. "What's the problem?"

"It's having a problem communicating the WHSKR data back to Miguel's station and…wait, why am I talking to you? I don't want to talk to you," he replied, going back to his work.

Katya sighed. "Have you tried running a…"

"Whatever it is I'm sure I've done it."

"But…"

"I don't need your help. This is my job."

Katya frowned and stood up. Looking at the terminal for a moment, she typed in a series of codes. 10 seconds later, the lost WHSKR data was scrolling across the screen, downloading into the memory of Miguel's station for later review. Lucas just gaped at her. She gave him a sad smile before turning and walking away.

When she reached her room, she found that all of her things had been transferred here. She moved some things onto the floor so she could sit on the bed. Leaning back against the wall, she took a deep breath, feeling like she wanted to cry. She hadn't done anything to him and he already hated her. She had been hoping it would be different here, but apparently she'd been wrong. She'd had to deal with this type of prejudice for so long, she should be used to it, but in this place, a new place where she didn't really know anyone, it wasn't so easy to ignore.

Before she could stop them, the tears did come. She didn't know why his dislike hurt her so much, but it did. She pulled her knees up to her chest and tried to be calm. She had to let out anger, frustration or sadness. If she didn't, there could be consequences, like things breaking.

She could turn off everything when she wanted to, and she most often did. Sometimes she just forgot, or things came to her unexpectedly. That was what had happened with Lucas this morning. She'd turned it off, but the touch of his hand had caused her to get something from him. He wasn't well, something was wrong, something had happened to him before she'd gotten here. The image of him writhing on the floor in agony had been distinct. She'd asked him if he was okay before she'd thought about it. She wiped her face with her sleeve and looked around the room, her new home, indefinitely.

She leaned her head back again and closed her eyes, not wanting to think of him anymore. As it often did in these moments, a picture came to her mind. A lavish ballroom, people dancing, all of them richly dressed and dripping with jewels of all sorts. Candles, firelight, bouncing off the gold colored walls. This was a refuge for her; she liked to come here when she was upset. She wasn't sure where it had come from but she'd seen it for as long as she could remember and she could call it up at will.

A knock interrupted her and she opened her eyes. Sliding off of the bed, she wiped her face again and opened the door to find Lucas standing there. She couldn't hide her shock at seeing him.

"Hi. Can I, um…can I come in?"

"Sure," she replied, stepping back and then closing the door behind him after he entered. The image of his pain flashed through her mind again, but this time she suppressed it.

He looked at her curiously. "Were you crying?"

"Huh? What? Oh, no…"

He didn't believe her for a second but let it go. "I wanted to say that I'm sorry for being a jerk. Thank you for helping me with the computer problem."

"Apology accepted and you're welcome."

"How did you know what to do?"

"Something sort of similar happened on the computer system at the parapsychology lab one of the few times I had to go somewhere to assist as part of my course work. I just remembered what they'd done to fix it."

He nodded. "I just don't trust people like you."

"Why not?"

"Because, you can see into people's heads, read their thoughts and put anything you want in there."

She frowned. "And you think that everyone who is like me would do that?"

"Why wouldn't you, if you could?"

"Maybe because it's just wrong? I would never do that to anyone; never put anything in their heads, unless it was a joke and it was someone I knew."

"But you can read thoughts too."

"I can, yes, if I choose to. But unless there is a need to do it, I don't."

"Then what about this morning?"

"This morning? I don't know what happened there. I was blocking it out, but when I touched your hand it was just there. I didn't go looking for it."

Lucas was quiet for a moment. "What is that like?"

"What is what like?"

"Seeing things."

"Oh, it's strange. I've lived with it my whole life and I'm still not really used to it."

"The Captain said abilities. As in plural. What else can you do?"

"I'm what they call psychometric, which means I can get information about someone by handling an object that they've touched. I also have mediumistic tendencies, and I can see events and memories, if I focus on someone, through their eyes."

"Wow, that's intense. You can just touch anything?"

"Yeah, as long as that person touched it with their skin."

"And mediumistic tendencies?"

She nodded. "I can see and speak to spirits, ghosts, or whatever you want to call them."

Ellie flashed through Lucas' mind. He wondered if she'd seen it, but she didn't say anything or even indicate that she'd noticed.

"So you don't mess with people on purpose?"

"No. Lucas, if I promise you that I won't ever purposely do anything like read your mind, can we try to be friends?"

Lucas pondered this for a moment, and then nodded. "Okay."

She smiled at him. "Good. Would you like to sit down? You still look tired, and that has nothing to do with reading your mind."

He smirked and sat down in the desk chair. "So, Katya…"

"Kat," she said.

"Kat…what do you know about world events?"

* * *

Lucas rolled around in his bunk. His headache had returned, though not as severe as before, and though he was sleeping, he wasn't sleeping well. He'd had these headaches every night for the last two weeks. He had also been having long and very interesting conversations with Kat over the past two weeks. They had a lot more in common than he'd originally thought, and she was knowledgeable in a lot of different areas, including computers and A.I. He'd felt even worse for the way he'd originally treated her. She hadn't deserved it and he was glad he'd apologized. As his fitful sleep continued, he wondered why he felt so unwell.

* * *

Seaman Matthews paced the hall, his guard duty having just started. It was usually a quiet duty because nothing much ever happened. He whistled softly and looked around, then turned and headed down the hallway.

Suddenly, he felt something wrap around his neck and his eyes widened in shock. He grabbed at his neck and felt a piece of cloth there just as it was pulled tighter. Just before the point of passing out, it was let go and he crashed to the floor. Rolling onto his back, he looked up to see what was going on. Before he could call out for help, a fist crashed into his face and everything went black.


	6. Chapter 6

"NO!" Lucas cried out, sitting up in bed and breathing hard. He looked around; it had just been a nightmare, the same nightmare he'd been having every night for the last two weeks. He let out a breath and fell back onto the pillow. He'd dreamt that someone had been pulling his soul from his body and he had been desperately trying to hang on but had been losing.

He turned his head toward the clock. It was time to get up anyway. He ran his hands through his hair and then sat up again. His headache was gone at least. He sighed and sat up, heading for the showers.

* * *

"Katy, they need you in med bay," Dr. Levin said quickly when Kat walked in the door to the science lab.

"Why?"

"Something happened to one of the crew last night. He was beaten pretty badly and they want to see if you can tell them what happened to him."

Kat frowned but she nodded. "I'll go right now." She rushed out the door and down to med bay.

When she entered, she saw Seaman Matthews lying on a gurney. Dr. Levin had been kind when he said that he'd been beaten badly. Badly was an understatement. The man's face was bruised on every inch of skin.

"Dr. Westphalen? Dr. Levin said you wanted to see me?"

"Yes, thank goodness you're here. We don't know what happened to him, he was discovered this way early this morning. I was hoping that perhaps you could tell us what happened."

"I'll do my best," she said, stepping up to the man and taking his hand. She closed her eyes; this was going to require her to go into his mind, to see what had happened through his own eyes. It was easily done, being that he was unconscious. She saw him pacing, walking the hallway, whistling. Something was around his throat, something was choking him. She watched him start to fade toward unconsciousness before falling to the floor. He turned over to look at his assailant and…

Kat dropped his hand with a little scream and her eyes snapped open. "Oh my God!"

"Katya what's wrong? What did you see?"

"No human person did this…there was something…something with red eyes that did this to him."

"How is that possible?"

"I don't know! It's what I saw! Something is on this ship!"

Dr. Westphalen shook her head. "Thank you Katya, thank you for trying."

"Doctor, I'm telling you the truth! Something is seriously wrong here!"

As she finished talking, Seaman Matthews went into cardiac arrest. She moved quickly out of the way, backing towards the entrance to med bay. Reaching it, she turned and ran out, heading for the science labs.

"Eli!" she shouted, running into the room.

"Katy? What's wrong? What's got you so upset?"

"Eli…I saw…something, something is on this ship, something evil. It hurt that man. Dr. Westphalen doesn't believe me!"

"Slow down Katy…"

"We have to do something! If we don't, more people will be hurt!"

"Perhaps the vision you got was wrong, I don't sense anything amiss here."

Kat shook her head. Maybe he was right. "Okay," she said, resigned.

"I have Lucas on his way here, there is an experiment I want to try," Dr. Levin said, changing the subject.

"Oh…okay. He agreed to participate?"

"Yeah, I assured him there was no brain scrambling involved." Kat chuckled as Lucas walked in the door.

"What so funny?" he asked.

"Nothing at all," Dr. Levin replied.

"Hey, did you guys hear about Matthews?"

"Yes, they just had Katya down there to see if she could help."

"Did you?" he asked Kat.

"I don't think so," she sighed.

"Well, let's get this underway. I need you two to enter the meditation room there, and sit facing each other." Both nodded and headed into the room, sitting down across from each other.

"This stuff weirds me out."

"Meditation?"

"No, well, yeah, all of it actually."

She smirked. "Don't worry; you won't turn into a hippie or anything."

Lucas chuckled. "Good one."

"Alright," Dr. Levin's voice said over the speaker. "I need you to put your hands together, palms touching. I want you to clear your minds and think of someone that you care about."

"That's easy," Lucas quipped.

Kat smiled at him before closing her eyes. Lucas closed his and both started breathing deeply. He'd learned this from his experience with Sam. As his mind cleared, he thought of Juliana. He hadn't thought much about her lately, things had been busy, though they had emailed back and forth. He briefly wondered who Kat was thinking of. Maybe her parents? He sank deeper into himself, still thinking of Juliana, but she was fading. Just as he began to wonder why, Ellie came to mind. He hadn't seen her in a while either. He thought of Juliana again, remembering the last time he'd seen her.

"Okay you two, that's good enough," Dr. Levin said over the speaker. Kat just looked at him raising an eyebrow and giving him a slight smirk.

"What?"

"She's pretty."

"Who?"

"Your girlfriend. That's who you were thinking of right?"

"Yeah, how did you….HEY!"

She shook her head. "Before you get upset, I wasn't breaking my promise. You were projecting, though apparently you didn't mean to."

"Projecting?"

"Yeah, where you think of something and you kind of just send it out there for other people to pick up on."

"And I was doing that?"

"Yeah. I can show you how to not do it if you'd like."

"Please. I certainly don't want to go around showing stuff to people without even knowing it." He paused. "What else did you see about that?"

She bit her lip. "Enough to know that I shut it out. Fast."

"Yikes. Yeah thanks for not watching."

She chuckled and nodded. "Not any of my business. Now, to shut off projection, here is what you need to do…"


	7. Chapter 7

Lucas sat at the table in the mess, tapping a pencil on the table and staring at a page with a series of code on it. He ate his sandwich, chewing absently. He was looking for a pattern but hadn't been able to find it yet. The guys and Kat hadn't shown up for lunch yet. She'd become a part of their lunch group, easily holding her own in the many guy-themed conversations that popped up.

There were times though, when Lucas wondered about her. She had mentioned once that for a few years she would "lose time." She'd wake up and it would be days later than she had remembered going to sleep. It hadn't happened in a long time, but because of it, she had holes in her memory and he knew it frustrated her. He liked hanging out with her, she was a good conversationalist and they often had long and complex discussions on various topics, much like he and Sam had when they talked about work. He stared at the page, wondering if there even was a pattern at all.

"What are you looking for?"

He looked up as Kat sat down with a salad. "A pattern in this code, though I was just wondering if there was even one to begin with."

"Who asked you to find it?"

"No one but myself. It's a glitch that keeps coming up and it's driving me crazy."

"Ah, I see. Have you been feeling any better?"

"No, not at all. I still get those headaches at night."

"Maybe you're concentrating too hard and should stop earlier so you can get more rest."

"You sound like my mother," he said with a smirk.

She smiled. "Yeah well, if you were a normal kid you'd still be living with a mother so…"

"Ha ha, very funny."

"Aww Lucas you know I'm only giving you a hard time."

"I know."

"Where's everyone else?" she asked, picking at her food.

"Don't know. They must've gotten caught up in something. How are your experiments going?"

"Interesting actually. Right now we're assisting the people at Chatton remotely on a study."

"Study of what?"

"Basically brain activity and its relation to psychic ability."

He nodded. "Now see, that's cool, looking at brains."

"Want a scan?"

He laughed. "No thanks."

"Thought so," she said, grinning. "I still want to run that experiment with Darwin if it is okay with you."

"Yeah sure. It would be interesting to know what's going on in his head during certain situations." She nodded, moving her food around on her plate but not really eating. "What's up with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're just picking at that, and that's weird for you because you like to eat as much as the rest of us. So that leads me to believe that you're either sick or something is bothering you."

She stared at him a moment. "Alright, then yeah, something is bothering me."

"Want to talk about it?"

"Not particularly. Just one of those nightmares that follows you around for the rest of the day."

"Yeah, I've had more than my fair share of those, especially lately."

"Really?"

"Yep. I'm hoping that they'll go away soon though. I just need to figure out what it is that is bothering me and causing them."

"I could try to help if you want."

"If you can do that then why don't you do it for yourself?"

"Can't. It doesn't work that way. To tell the truth, now that we're friends, I couldn't read your mind even if I wanted to."

"Why not? Not that I mind that."

"It's always been that way. When I get close to people, it shuts off on it's own. Which is probably good because if it didn't then they'd never lead the lives they were supposed to."

"True. I hadn't thought of that. They'd always be asking you for stuff."

"That and I would always be trying to keep them from making mistakes."

"So you can't even see things on yourself?"

"No."

"Hmm. Well, if I can't figure it out soon, I might have to take you up on that offer."

"Okay," she said, still pushing her food around.

"C'mon Kat, eat that will you?"

"Who sounds like a parent now?"

He grinned. "Look, people are always saying that to me because I get caught up and forget to eat or just don't want to. I've been trying to follow the advice. You should too; you're just as bad as I am about it. Besides, if you don't I won't be able to give you dessert," he said, using a mocking tone for the last part of it.

She looked at him curiously. "Dessert? What are you talking about?"

"Got a package today…and it has chocolate in it."

Her eyes widened. "You have some? And you'll share?"

He nodded. "Your family lives in the land of Ghirardelli. Why haven't they sent you any?"

She shrugged. "I haven't asked. They're likely out of town anyway."

"My parents did that a lot too. Still do, actually. The package came from my grandmother."

"That's very nice of her."

"She's a great lady. But seriously Kat, eat!"

She gave him a small half smile and ate while he looked over the code again. When she finished, she stood up to leave. "See you later Lucas, good luck with that code."

He looked up. "Not so fast. I told you I'd share right? Come on, I've got to head back to my room anyway," he said, standing.

"I didn't think you were serious."

"Well, you were wrong then. Come on," he said, walking out.

She followed him out. She'd never been to his room before, though she knew where it was. Most of their conversations had taken place either in her room or in Mammal Engineering. He opened his door and walked inside, holding the door for her.

"Thanks," she said.

"No problem. So, this is my room. Sorry it's a wreck but…"

"You're a guy. Most guys' rooms are a wreck. Especially ones belonging to busy guys."

"Good point. Have a seat," he said, motioning to the bed.

She sat down and watched him as he picked a box up from the desk, opening it. He sat down next to her and set it in her lap. "Pick your poison," he said with a smile. Inside the box was a great many different things, but he pulled the chocolate bars out and held them out to her. "Which one would you like?"

"Hmm…well, is there only one of each?"

"Yeah but don't worry about it."

She took the dark chocolate with a grin. "It's my favorite."

"Mine too."

"Oh! I'm sorry! Here then," she said, handing it back.

"No, it's cool. I'll be happy with the other ones too. Consider it a thank you for the projection lesson."

She gave him a nod and looked down for a moment. "Thanks."

"Something wrong?"

"No, not really. Just…thanks for being nice to me Lucas. I'm glad I've had the chance to get to know you."

"Oh," he replied, unsure of how to respond. "I'm glad too. Kind of given me a different insight on people who can do what you can. Besides, you're fun to talk to, like Sam is. Us 'not normal' kids have to stick together."

She chuckled. "Well, you're somewhat more normal."

"Not really. Not when you take everything into account. But you're like me in that way too, your family isn't normal at all, not like Ben's or Tim's or Miguel's."

"Very true. Well, I have to get back to work and you probably do too," she said, standing.

He stood as well. "Yeah, I do. Something is always needing to be fixed."

She walked to the door and then stopped, turning around. He'd already started to follow her out and she almost ran into him. She looked at him a moment before she gave him a quick hug.

"Thanks for the chocolate," she whispered before pulling away. "I really needed it."

Shocked, he just looked at her. "Uh…you're welcome, I…hmm."

"What?"

"Nothing," he said with a smile. "Glad I could help."

She returned his smile and walked out. He stood there for a few more minutes, thinking. That had really been the first time she'd ever been that personal with him. He knew, from their talks, that it was something that she rarely did with anyone, though her reasons for it were different than his own. With the psychometric thing, for her, touching anyone or having anyone touch her could be problem. She would see things about them, things she didn't want to see and it bothered her. So, she had early on shied away from much physical contact. In a way, he felt honored that she'd chosen him as one of those few, and wondered if this was what it felt like to others when he chose to do the same.


	8. Chapter 8

That night, Lucas again was tossing and turning, sleeping, but not sleeping well. His headache had returned with a vengeance, and his nightmare was coming back, he could sense it.

He longed for Kat at that moment, just the comfort of having her there. Maybe she could help him sleep; make the pain in his head stop. It took all he had not to pick up his PAL and call her. He wasn't sure why he thought of her suddenly. Perhaps because they hadn't talked that night, or perhaps because he knew she had the ability to do small things like take headaches away.

His head still throbbed, but he tried to go back to sleep.

* * *

Miguel walked at a leisurely pace down the corridor to his quarters. It had been a slow day, not much happening. Still, he was tired and looked forward to being able to get some sleep. He'd missed lunch with the regular group today. He rounded a bend in the corridor and looked up.

"Hey! Lucas, what are you doing up?"

Lucas didn't answer him, only staring menacingly at Miguel.

"Everything okay man?"

Lucas stepped toward him and, much to Miguel's shock; his eyes took on a red glow.

"What in the hell is this? Lucas quit it, you're freaking me out."

A low, demonic laugh escaped Lucas' throat, and Miguel began to back away. In what seemed an impossibly quick movement, Lucas was beside him. He grabbed Miguel by the head and slammed him into the wall, knocking him out.

* * *

Katya jumped as the PAL by her bed buzzed. She answered it, still lying down. "Yes?"

"Katya, Dr. Westphalen here. We need you in med bay right away."

"Is everything okay?"

"No, it's Miguel, he's been hurt. Please hurry."

"I'll be right there." She put the PAL down and quickly pulled on her clothes and shoes, not bothering to brush her hair, just pulling it behind her and attaching a rubber band at the base of her neck.

She sprinted out into the corridor and down to med bay. When she saw Miguel, she almost began to cry. His head, though wrapped in white bandages, was severely cut and bruised, and, like Matthews, he had been beaten within an inch of his life.

"What happened to him?"

"That's what we're hoping you can find out," Dr. Westphalen replied.

Katya nodded woodenly, and took Miguel's hand. "Oh Migs, I'm so sorry, please be okay," she whispered, stroking his hand softly, before closing her eyes and focusing on seeing what he'd seen.

It was the same as she had seen with Matthews. He was walking down a corridor, heading to his room to get some sleep. It was what she saw and heard next that frightened her. She watched, dumbfounded, as Miguel came upon someone who looked like Lucas. She saw the eyes glow red, heard the laughter and saw Miguel have his head driven into a wall.

She dropped Miguel's hand in horror and backed away. "Oh no…oh…that has to be wrong!"

"What is it Katya?"

"Lucas…he saw Lucas…"

"What do you mean?"

"He saw someone who looked like Lucas…I don't know if it was him though. This thing is what did it to him!"

"Get Lucas down here, now!"

In what seemed like no time, a groggy Lucas walked into med bay. "What's going on?" he asked, before his eyes fell on Miguel. "Oh my God! What happened to Miguel!"

"We were hoping you could tell us Lucas," Dr. Westphalen replied.

"What do you mean?"

Dr. Westphalen grabbed his hands and looked at them, frowning. "No, it couldn't have been you. Your hands would be showing some damage if you'd caused the beating that Miguel received."

Lucas looked at Miguel, horrified. He then noticed Kat standing there. "Did you tell them I did this?"

She shook her head. "Doctor, you didn't let me finish! I said it _looked_ like Lucas, not that it _was_ Lucas. I told you already, there is something on this ship!"

"I don't see how that is possible Katya. There must be some sort of jumbled image there. Thank you for your help," she said, going back to check on Miguel.

Katya blinked hard and then walked away, and past Lucas, who followed her. As they entered the corridor outside of med bay, he grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Kat, what in the hell is going on here?"

She looked up at him. "I don't know Lucas. I told her what I saw, and last night, something that looked like you nearly killed Miguel."

He shook his head. "It wasn't me! I was sleeping. They just woke me up."

"Do you sleep walk?"

"No! And even if I did, you heard the doctor, look at my hands!"

"Something is really wrong here, and I can't figure out what it is. It got that poor man, now Miguel. Who's next?" she said, placing her fingers against her temples.

"Kat…" he said, putting an arm around her shoulders in an attempt to alleviate her obvious stress.

She pulled away from him. "Don't. Don't Lucas."

He looked confused for a moment before it dawned on him. "Oh…sorry. I didn't mean to…"

"I have to go now," she said, turning and walking away from him.

He watched her walk away. "Kat, wait…" he whispered to no one.


	9. Chapter 9

Lucas moved through his day robotically. His head still ached faintly, and he was bothered by Kat's reaction to him this morning. He hadn't meant to offend or bother her. At the same time he realized that, had he been in her position, he would have been the same way. He sighed, rubbing his face with his hands. He was completely exhausted. These headaches were getting worse and he felt like he was sleeping less.

He was glad when his day was finally over, and he headed straight for his quarters, not even bothering with dinner. He didn't care, he just wanted to sleep, and his head had begun to pound again.

* * *

Jason walked down the corridor to Mammal Engineering, looking for Lucas. He hadn't seen him at dinner and was worried. It wasn't like Lucas to miss a meal and with all that had been going on lately; he wanted to make sure Lucas was fine. He was probably hard at work on some computer issue, not realizing what time it was. He walked into an empty room, and his tension increased. Where was Lucas? He turned to go to Lucas' quarters.

"Oh! Lucas! There you are! I was just coming to check on you," he said as he saw Lucas standing in the doorway.

There was no response, Lucas just stared at him.

"Hard day huh?"

Lucas advanced into the room, and there was something about him that made Jason uncomfortable enough to back up.

"Come here Jason, I have something to tell you," Lucas said with a voice that was not his own. It was guttural and horrid.

"Lucas, what are you doing? This isn't funny. Quit messing around."

Lucas laughed an unnatural laugh and kept walking toward him. It was then that Jason noticed the red flash in his eyes. This wasn't Lucas.

He opened his mouth to call for help, but the false Lucas was beside him in a second, his hands around Jason's throat.

"Shhhh…didn't your Mommy ever tell you not to tattle?"

Jason's eyes were wide with fear as he struggled for breath. The knife was the last thing he saw.

* * *

Lucas awoke to a commotion from outside. People were shouting. He rolled out of bed, his hand to his head as his headache had intensified. He stumbled into the corridor, following the noise. As he entered Mammal Engineering, he saw the reason for all of the commotion. Jason lay on the floor, bleeding from several wounds.

"JASON!" Lucas cried, rushing to his friend's side.

"Lucas, did you hear anything?" Dr. Westphalen asked frantically.

"No, no I was asleep! Is he going to be okay?"

"We're working on it Lucas. This is worse than Miguel or Matthews. Whoever did this was interrupted, they wanted to kill Jason."

"Where is Kat?" Lucas asked, panicked.

"I don't know, I haven't seen her!"

"Oh God…Kat!" Lucas cried out as he jumped to his feet and sprinted to her quarters. Finding them empty, he headed for the science labs. His head was killing him now, close to the pain that he'd felt the first day that Kat had come here.

* * *

"I'm heading out Katy, I'll see you tomorrow," Dr. Levin said.

"Alright Eli, see you then," she said, putting away some of the instruments they'd been using.

She moved around the room, tired. She was worried about Miguel and was hoping he'd be alright. Had it been anyone else, she would have been able to see if he'd make it, but because they were friends, that door was automatically shut to her. She was worried about Lucas too. He hadn't seemed well, and he'd missed dinner. Jason had said that he was going to go check it out. He must've found him because he hadn't come back.

* * *

Lucas stumbled down the corridor to the science labs. The pain in his head was becoming so intense it was hard to see or even stand, but he had to get to Kat. He needed to know she was okay. He ran into the lab, seeing her putting things way. A white hot flash of pain seared across his brain and he hit his knees, crying out.

* * *

Katya turned at the sound of Lucas' cry and saw him on his hands on knees on the floor.

"Lucas! Are you okay?" she said, running over to him.

"Kat…help me," he panted.

"What's wrong? What's happening?"

"My head…it hurts so bad…make it stop Kat."

"Let's get you to med bay…"

"NO! Something is wrong! It got Jason, it almost killed him!"

The desperation in his voice stopped her. "Jason…" she whispered. "Lucas, you have to tell me what happened before I got here!" Lucas screamed as another flash of pain washed over him. She held him until it subsided a bit.

His words came in bits and pieces. "Nothing…I only remember that I had a migraine attack on the Bridge…"

"And what happened before that?"

Lucas tried to focus. "A man…a pirate, they sent him ashore on the launch that brought you back. He said some weird words and looked at me funny just before I got the migraine…"

Katya looked at him in alarm. "I'm sorry Lucas, I have to break my promise," she said, laying him down on the floor. "Give me your hand, and please don't move." She took his hand in hers and concentrated. So much harder with him conscious, so hard to get past the excruciating pain he was in.

She worked on moving back, back to see what words were said, to see what had happened for herself. She quickly found it as he didn't fight her and let her take the information from him.

"_You're not going to win," she heard Lucas think._

_She watched as the man turned his attention to Lucas and narrowed his eyes. "Mosha danna luktor winepp pala," he hissed._

"_What the hell?" she heard him say. The man started laughing like he was possessed and they took him away. "Okay, that was seriously weird."_

"_I don't know what that was all about. How's the work coming Lucas?"_

"_Oh it's…it's…" she watched him say before he screamed and put his hands to his head, falling over and writhing in pain._

She gasped and snapped back to the present. "He sent a demon after you…" There was no response. "Lucas?" she said, shaking him gently. Still no response. "Please wake up Lucas, come on, don't do this…"

"Hello Katya…" said a dark voice from the corner of the room.


	10. Chapter 10

She looked up slowly, as a Lucas look-alike moved out of the shadows. "You are what I saw…you're taking on his form."

"Yes, and I almost got everyone too, but that damned giant fish interrupted me when I was trying to finish Jason off."

"Leave! Go back to where you came from!"

"I can't, not until it is finished. You're the last on my list. The strong one is always last."

Katya stood up; backing away from the body of Lucas sprawled across the floor. "Why him, he did nothing."

"He insulted us, and so he is the one to pay. But now, now it is your turn," it said, as it gestured to the science lab doors. They slammed shut, and Katya instinctively knew that there was no way out now, and no way in.

"Why the headaches?"

"We feed off of his mind, his memories, and his energies. We lived in his head. He barely had the energy to support us. We caused pain because that is what we do."

Her mind raced. There were words to send this demon away; she just had to remember them!

"Oh it isn't nice to play that way Katya," it hissed, instantly showing up at her side. It kicked her legs out from under her and she collapsed to the floor. Again, instantly, it was there, holding her wrists down, lying on top of her.

"Get off of me!" she yelled. "GET AWAY FROM ME!"

It laughed the same unnatural laugh that all those before her had heard. "Doesn't it hurt Katya? Doesn't it hurt to know that no one trusts you? That _he _doesn't trust you?"

"Stop! Stop it!" she cried out.

"No, we don't stop. You must suffer first. Watching you suffer is the fun part," it said as it quickly wrapped an imaginary hand around her throat, not choking her, but holding her down. "Look at him," it hissed, forcing her head to turn and look at Lucas. "You won't see him again. You'll be dead. Do you think he'll miss you? Or will he just forget you ever existed?"

Katya did her best to wall off her thoughts. None of these things had entered her mind; she knew it was only saying them to hurt her, to upset her. It was feeding off of her fears. She couldn't let it win.

"Now, now, now pretty Katya, you'll be free! No one to watch you anymore, no more security, no more burden of powers you don't want, no more of people judging you only by what you can do instead of who you are. He did that, don't you remember? He hated you for what you were. Do you think that changed? Or do you think he changed his tune because he wants something from you?"

Katya jerked her head away and squeezed her eyes shut. Hot tears poured from underneath her closed eyelids. What were those words?

"You cannot win Katya, just like he said to our master. Your time is up here, and you haven't even gotten to enjoy it," it whispered in her ear, before sitting up and backhanding her across the face. She cried out in pain and felt the blood flow from her cut lip.

"This is the part we enjoy most, causing physical pain," it said, a razor appearing in its hand.

Katya screamed and pushed it back with all the energy she could muster. It stumbled back, far enough to allow her to get to her feet. She pressed herself against the wall, sliding along it as it stalked her. It charged her and she kicked it in the chest, sending it flying back.

"Why do you only prolong the inevitable? You _will_ die, and it will be painful, you will suffer!"

It charged her again and she ducked out of the way, running for the other side of the room. It caught up to her quickly and tripped her, sending her sprawling onto the floor. Her head slammed onto the grating and she cried out in pain. She tried to sit up and back away, but she was too dizzy. She put her hand to the side of her forehead, and felt the blood there. She fought against the darkness that tried to claim her. She could only lie there; she didn't have the strength to move. She couldn't fight back anymore, her head spinning. It stood over her.

"Are you finished now? No more fighting Katya, accept what is to come. You will not leave here alive!"

"Somebody help me, please!" she cried out weakly.

"There is no one to help you. No one can hear you. Now, it is time. This is going to hurt Katya…_a lot_."

Her mind was sluggish and she weakly tried to resist as it picked up her wrist. The razor glinted in the dim light of the lab. "No, please don't…please…"

As her consciousness began to fade, the words she needed suddenly floated to the surface. She struggled to get them from her brain to her lips.

"Ilek danna hotep lachna yuram," she whispered.

"What do you say?" it hissed.

"Ilek danna hotep lachna yuram," she repeated, her voice still barely above a whisper.

"Last words? I'll hear them," it said with a smile, leaning down and putting its ear near to her lips.

"Ilek danna hotep lachna yuram," she said, firmly.

It jumped back and began to scream in agony. "Evil! Evil Katya! Our job was almost done! You should have let us finish it!" it screamed out at her. A flash of red light lit the room and then it was gone.

Katya began to sob weakly. She couldn't move, she couldn't stay awake anymore. Every part of her ached, but it was over. The sound of her sobs was the only sound in the room as she lost consciousness.


	11. Chapter 11

Lucas' eyes fluttered open and he realized he was staring at the ceiling of the science lab. His head felt normal again, but everything was eerily silent. Where was Kat? She had been here he'd seen her.

He sat up, blinking heavily. He looked to his right and saw the one thing he feared the most: Katya, lying on the floor, not moving. He scrambled to his knees and was beside her in a second.

"Kat…" he whispered, seeing the blood from the wounds to her lip and head. "What happened to you?" She was breathing he could see that much. The doors to the lab were closed. Quickly, he picked her up in his arms. He had to get her out of here.

He kicked open the doors to the lab and rushed down the hall. It wasn't far to med bay from here, and his adrenaline drove him the entire way. He rushed into the room, Kat in his arms.

"Doctor Westphalen!" he screamed. They all turned to see Lucas standing there, holding Katya, blood on his shirt, his face pale.

"Good God Lucas! What's happened?" she cried.

Ben, who was there to check on Miguel and Jason, rushed over and quickly pulled Katya from his arms, carrying her to a bed and laying her down.

"I don't know! I went to check on her after you found Jason, and my head was killing me. I made it to the science lab; she was asking me what had happened before she came here! It's all I remember! I think I passed out, because I woke up and she was lying on the floor like this!"

He watched as the Doctor and her team assessed Katya. "She's got a head wound, from the state of her pupils it looks like she's got a concussion as well. It looks like someone hit her, hard, but other than that she looks okay," she said, breathing a sigh of relief. "It's the fact that she's lost consciousness that worries me. We'll have to watch her."

Lucas put a hand out to steady himself against a table. He still wasn't all the way stable himself, and the extra exertion he'd just put forth hadn't helped him. Someone helped him to a bed he wasn't sure whom. He lay down and was quickly asleep.

* * *

When he awoke again, it was silent in the room. He turned his head to the left, seeing Katya laying there, a bandage on her head and hooked to a machine that was monitoring her vital signs.

He rolled off of the bed and walked over to where she lay. He pulled up a chair and sat next to her, stroking her hair softly. "It will be okay Kat, you'll be okay." He took her hand in his, and was stunned as he watched a replay of her ordeal.

He watched everything before dropping her hand. "Oh my God," he whispered. "You knew, you figured it out, you destroyed it." He tentatively touched her hand again, but nothing happened. "Katya, none of what was said was true, none of it. I hope you know that," he said softly.

Nothing answered him but the incessant beeping of the machine. She'd gone through so much; she was in this state with those words in her ears. Did she know that it was all lies? He could only hope so. He looked around the room at three of his friends, all of them hurt.

But Katya had saved them all.


	12. Epilogue

_Epilogue_

* * *

"I still say that Ginger would kill Mary Ann," Miguel insisted.

"No way! Never underestimate the power of a Mid-Western girl!" Tim said.

"Psssh…whatever Tim," Ben said.

"I don't care who wins as long as I'm there to see it," Jason replied.

Lucas sat silently, not a part of the conversation. He hadn't been himself lately, not since Kat had gone into the coma. Only he knew the things that had been said to her, though he had filled in the others as to what had happened and why. He hadn't been able to go and see her. It nearly killed him to see her lying there so still, just like Sam had when the VR experiment had malfunctioned.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. "I'm gonna go you guys."

None of them said a word. They understood his sullen silence and watched him walk away.

* * *

Lucas sat at the terminal in Mammal Engineering, just staring at the screen. Burying his face in his hands, he sighed. He couldn't even think. He should go and see her, no matter how painful it was.

"No need," he heard a soft, familiar voice say from the doorway.

He looked up slowly, staring in front of him. He turned his head to the side in disbelief. There stood Katya, smiling at him, leaning against the doorway.

"Kat? But I thought…are you…"

She looked down at herself. "No, I don't think so."

He stood up quickly and walked to where she stood. "When did you wake up?"

"This morning. I wanted to come and see you, and I finally wouldn't take no for an answer."

"You don't know how glad I am to see you. You beat it Kat."

She nodded. "I'm glad to see that you are alright. It was you I was worried about. I didn't know what it had done to you."

"I saw it, I saw everything."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Please, tell me you know that it was all lies…"

"I did know, but I heard you tell me too."

He gave her a soft, sad smile. "Let's get you back; I know you shouldn't be up yet."


End file.
